Our Final Moments
by Cupzy
Summary: Set before Squigly's death. A young man unwillingly turns up at a celebration party for the Continello family. Bored and uninterested, he accidentally bumps into one of the Continellos themselves. Little did he know, this would simultaneously turn out to be both the best and the worst night of his life...
1. Chapter 1

Formal parties were generally quite boring.

People with far too much money and time on their hands conversing with each other, drinking beverages costing more than the average house. Nothing but polite conversation and aristocrats as far as the eye could see. It's a wonder why I'm brought to any of these things in the first place.

There I was, wearing a suit that cost more than I'd ever made in my entire life, holding a glass containing some fine alcoholic beverage that I didn't have any taste for. It was awkward, to say the least. I wasn't used to being treated like I'd been pampered to become some sort of rich tycoon from birth.

In short, I was far too normal for these types of things. I can't even remember why I agreed to come here in the first place. Maybe it was because I get to keep this suit afterwards, and I could probably live off the money from what I'd get if I ever sold it. And the food wasn't too bad, either.

You may ask why I was even here in the first place. I don't usually get invited to any of these things.

Basically, there's a big family in the Canopy Kingdom called the Continellos. The entire family is composed of opera singers.

No, seriously.

Anyway, the party is supposed to celebrate the first ever performance of the youngest member of the Continello family. I didn't pay enough attention to the performance itself to remember the name. It started with an 'S', I think. There were a few other acts, too. But I really didn't pay much attention to them.

Even though I'm not really too big on the whole opera thing, the performance was actually pretty good. Or maybe it was terrible, and I'm too inexperienced in the field of opera to actually make a verdict on these things.

One of my family's friends is quite well-known around these parts, you see. And the guy he usually drags along for these things left on a business trip a few days ago. So, apparently, the next best guy was me. I didn't really get a choice in the matter, considering he showed up at my doorstep with a suit and some cologne and told me we were going to a party.

I barely had enough time to react before I was thrown into a limo and taken here. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I never actually answered him.

And that's how I got into this mess.

At least I only have about an hour left until I get to leave. I'll probably start by washing my mouth out with soap. I don't particularly like the taste of expensive drinks.

I sigh. This isn't how I expected a formal party to be. I thought it involved taking somebody's eye out with a champagne cork. That would make the night way more interesting. I start walking in a random direction, looking around for the food table so that I could get the taste of rotten fruit out of my mouth.

You see, the think about looking around for something while walking forward in a crowded area is that you usually ending up bumping into somebody.

That's exactly what I did.

I grunted as I made contact with somebody else, pushing me backwards. I struggled to keep the glass in my hand from crashing to the floor. I looked like a complete idiot.

Regaining my composure, I quickly turned to the figure I bumped into and quickly apologized.

"I-I apologize... I didn't see you there..." I stuttered out, sounding like an idiot in the process. I definitely wasn't made for these things.

"Oh, please don't worry about it. I'm sure it was just an accident." The figure replied. Her voice caught me off-guard a little. It sounded like the type of voice that would belong to an...

Opera... Singer...

I raised my head and nearly regurgitated my breakfast when I saw who I had just walked straight into.

If I'm not mistaken, the young lady I was looking at was singing opera no more than half an hour ago.

...Whoops.

"Ah... I'm very sorry... I wasn't aware who you were..." I said slowly. I was slightly afraid that I may have just ruined her evening.

"It's really no problem. There's no need to apologize." She replied. I honestly wasn't expecting a member of an upper-class family to act this forgiving.

"I see. Thank you for forgiving me, Miss..." I said. Now I wish I had taken the five seconds it would have taken to memorize her name.

"Sienna. Sienna Continello." She replied, a warm smile gracing her features. Then, out of nowhere, she let out a small giggle. "But..." She continued.

She moved a little closer to me, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"Some people just call me Squigly. You can call me that too, if you want." She finished.

This girl's acting nothing like I expected her too. She's way too friendly.

"It's... A pleasure to meet you, Miss Continello." I replied. A look of slight unhappiness crossed her face, probably because I didn't use the nickname she told me too.

"Likewise." She said happily. "So, how did you like my performance?"

The question caught me a little off-guard. I took my time responding.

"In all honesty, I don't really attend these things too much, so I can't really make an honest verdict. But, from what I heard, you sounded pretty amazing." I said. Apparently, I was a little too good with my praise, because a light tinge of scarlet appeared on her cheeks a few seconds later.

"Thank you. I was really nervous when I went up on that stage..." She replied.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Your performance was the only one that I found vaguely interesting." I said. As much as the other performances were probably of some good quality, Sienna's was the only one I actually listened to.

"It doesn't sound as if you were very interested in this to begin with..." She said, eying me curiously. Seems as if I let a little bit of my boredom slip there.

"I suppose not. Could you keep a secret?" I asked. She nodded in response.

"I'm not exactly meant for these kinds of things. I may look like I put some effort into coming here, but I'm just here as a replacement for a friend's friend." I said.

"I see. So you're really not interested in my family's work?" Sienna asked, a hint of unhappiness creeping into her voice.

"N-No! That's not what I meant... The performance was probably one of the more interesting things that happened tonight." I explained. Sienna seemed to mull my response over before responding.

"Alright, I shall keep your secret. But only under one condition." She said, holding up one finger to emphasize her point.

"Name your terms." I replied. She moved forward again, leaning in slightly and descending into a whisper once more.

"That you call me Squigly." She whispered.

I have absolutely no idea what her obsession with this name is, but if it's what she prefers, then who am I to judge?

"Very well... Squigly." I replied. The name sounded immature. Childish, even. 'Squigly's' odd personality baffles me, and rather frankly, has kept me occupied for the duration of our conversation. She beamed a smile at me at the mention of her nickname. That smile was also quite distracting. It was almost as if she was born for the purpose of smiling.

It was hard to distinguish her age. Her personality hinted at her being quite young, but she was also well-mannered. If I had to guess, I'd probably wager that she's around fourteen years old. In which case, she's only a year younger than me.

I understand that I'm a little too young for this kind of stuff, but there's really no point throwing my age into this kind of thing. Most of the people at the party had to be at least twenty years older than me. Me and Squigly were probably the youngest here.

"So we're friends now, right?" She asked happily.

"E-Er... Pardon me?" I asked.

"I asked if we were friends. We are, aren't we?" She asked again. I didn't really know how to respond to that question, but something told me that saying no was a bad course of action.

"I-I suppose we are..." I replied, scratching the back of my head. The last thing I expected to happen today was becoming the friend of an opera singer. Squigly let out a short giggle before replying.

"It's nice being able to talk to somebody my age for once. All my time was being taken up by practice sessions." She explained.

"Being able to become friends with someone when you first meet them is an interesting skill, Squigly." I replied.

"Well, we wouldn't have met each other if you hadn't walked into me, wouldn't we?" She asked.

She caught me off with that one.

"I-I... Well... That was an accident." I mumbled, trying to get the right words out of my mouth.

"Aw, you're blushing. No need to be embarrassed about it." Squigly said. Her odd way of weaving through a conversation has grown on me in the ten minutes that we've acknowledged each-others existence. Squigly was certainly an interesting conversational partner.

"So why did you come here if you aren't interested in it?" She asked.

"The food is decent, I suppose." I replied.

It was almost if our roles had been reversed. Now it was Squigly's turn to look at me as if I was a madman.

"I see... Well, I suppose that's a good enough reason." She replied.

"And... Uh... I guess your performance was worth it, too." I said. She shot me another smile.

"You're being far too kind..." She replied, another hint of red creeping onto her cheeks.

I never considered myself a flattering guy. Maybe it's just because no-one's actually had the courage to say these kinds of things to Squigly, in fear that her family would send off assassins to dismember them.

Now that I think about it, maybe I'm making a huge mistake by doing this.

"You're supposed to over-compliment a young lady, Squigly. That's rule number one in being a gentleman." I said.

"I think you have the rules of being a gentleman confused with the rules of flirting with someone." She replied.

This time, I almost did drop my drink.

"W-Well... I- You see..." I stuttered. Normally, something like that wouldn't bother me too much. I suppose it's just a shock to hear it from someone as prestigious as the Continello family.

I mean, I'm not complaining or anything, alright? Squigly's not exactly terrible-looking. She seems like the type of person who has to turn down confessions every day of her life. Oh great, now look at what you've made me say.

Squigly seemed to be holding back bursting into laughter at my stuttering. At least I was providing her with suitable entertainment. Sadist.

"I-I wouldn't imagine anything of the sort, Miss Conti-"

"Squigly." She cut in. As much as I hate to admit it, she had full control over the conversation right now.

"R-Right... Squigly..." I replied slowly. My night was turning out far more interesting that I could have ever hoped it to. I'd never felt so intimidated and yet so comfortable in my entire life.

"Don't get so embarrassed. I was only teasing you, is all." Squigly said. Meanwhile, my face was still flushed red.

"A-Ah... I see... I-I knew that..." I replied.

"Are you sure about that? You looked pretty surprised." Squigly said. Her face bore a mischievous smile the whole time she was talking. I didn't know that embarrassing the guests was customary at a formal party. But who am I to judge the upper class?

"No... I wasn't..." I replied. I was clearly lying through my teeth, but Squigly appeared to be the better person and let it slide.

"Oh... I see... So you don't think I'm... Pretty?" She asked innocently. Her voice descended to a squeak and she looked at me in a hopeful manner. Before responding, I quickly leaned to the right and placed my glass down on a nearby table. I wasn't going to cover the cost of it spilling all over the carpet. I also did it so that I could have some time to mull over what Squigly just asked me.

"T-That's not what I meant! I mean... Y-You're..." I stuttered. I've done more stuttering tonight than an old man will do in his entire life. Squigly continued with those damned puppy-dog eyes.

"Look... You're not getting anything out of me..." I said.

The stare continued.

I sighed.

"Y-You're... You're pretty, alright? Just stop looking at me like that..." I said, finally giving in. Squigly's almost-pleading face vanished instantly, replaced with another one of her trademark smiles.

"I knew it! You're not too bad looking yourself." She said triumphantly.

Eh?

Realization dawned on Squigly almost instantly. Her eyes widened as a streak of red ran right past her cheeks.

"Y-You didn't hear that." She said. It sounded like a command more than anything else.

"No. I didn't." I said, playing along.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little surprised. Squigly was pampered by her family, so it only makes sense that she would look pretty. Me? I haven't even had a shower today. I mean, I'm wearing a suit and everything, but that doesn't really change the fact that I'm just a little surprised.

Great. Now this conversation just got awkward. I lifted my arm to look at my watch. I only had around fifteen minutes before it was time to leave.

"Unfortunately, it's almost time for me to leave. I should probably go search for my ride home." I said, piercing the silence.

"...Do you really have to leave?" Squigly asked. She sounded disappointed.

"I'm afraid so..." I replied. "It was nice meeting you, Squigly."

Just as I began to walk away from the conversation, I felt a light tug against my arm. I turned my head to see Squigly wearing an embarrassed expression.

"H-How much time do you have left?" She asked. Her eyes refused to meet mine.

"About fifteen minutes." I answered. "Why?"

Squigly appeared to gulp before answering.

"W-Would you..." She muttered. Her voice had descended to a whisper once more.

"Like to... Dance?" She finished. Her head shot to the side almost instantly, trying to avoid any kind of contact with me.

I looked around. I mean, sure, it was a party, so a large majority of the people in the hall were dancing. Light classical music had been playing in the background for the duration of the time I had been here.

"A dance...?" I repeated. "...I apologize, Squigly. But I really must find-"

"Please? It will only take a few minutes." She pleaded. She sounded like a kindergartener asking someone to play with her.

As much as I'd really like to, it would probably be for the best if I just found-

"Alright."

Damn it.

Squigly gave me a warm smile. It was getting harder and harder to back out of this.

Not to mention that I'm not exactly much of a dancer, either. Who has the time to learn proper dancing? Well, apart from Squigly, of course. But we're talking about ME here. Squigly edged a little closer to me. I was slowly approaching the point of no return.

Squigly took her hand in mine. The closer we got to each other, the more awkward the situation became.

"D-Do you... Want to lead?" Squigly asked. Nervousness permeated in her voice. Surely someone of her class would have at least danced at some point in her life?

I knew little to absolutely nothing about slow dancing. All I knew was how to get ready. Dancing was the part I was worried about.

"Sure..." I replied. Treating her hand like a delicate object, I slowly moved it towards me, raising it to shoulder height. I tried to look half-decent, but I'm pretty sure anybody looking at us would be pretty amused by how nervous we both looked.

Involuntarily, and quite frankly, rather quickly, I placed my free hand onto Squigly's upper back. She let out a quick squeak when my hand made contact. Surprisingly, she didn't object and just wrapped her free hand around my own. The entire process took about ten seconds, but it felt like one of the longest moments of my life.

I spent the next few seconds listening to the rhythm of the music that was playing. I started to move my feet afterwards, and, to my satisfaction, Squigly began to follow.

Maybe this whole 'dancing' thing isn't at hard as some people make it out to be.

"Well... That wasn't too difficult, I suppose." I said, partially letting my relief slip out.

"Is this your first time dancing?" Squigly asked.

"Properly, yes. I had some lessons a few years ago." I replied. I had some trouble getting responses out, due to me trying to make sure I wasn't stepping on Squigly's feet every few seconds.

"You should be thankful that your first real dance was with someone as prestigious as me." She said, a playful smile creeping onto her mouth.

"I still find it rather odd that someone so high up in life could be this friendly." I said.

"I suppose you imagined me to be spoiled?" Squigly asked.

"No, no. Not at all. I just didn't imagine that someone like you would associate themselves with someone like me. Much less ask to dance with them." I explained.

"In all fairness, you did walk into me."

"...Purely an accident."

"Really? Or... Maybe you planned this all along?" Squigly said.

"W-What? Of course not..." I replied, nearly losing my footing.

"Relax. I'm just joking." Squigly said, giggling at my footwork. Albeit my apparent difficulties with it, dancing was a lot easier than it looked. I'd be lying if I said that being so close to Squigly wasn't vaguely embarrassing. It was incredibly hard to avoid looking directly into her eyes. Not to mention, our mouths were an incredibly small distance from each other. I mean, not that I'm thinking about it too deeply or anything like that...

I was well aware that I had long overstayed my visit here. My ride home was probably gone already. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I had more important things to focus on.

"It's odd, isn't it? How we've already become good friends in the short time we've noticed each other." Squigly said.

"I was about to say the same thing myself." I replied.

"You don't suppose that we could... Do this again... Do you?" Squigly asked.

"I suppose. If you're having another one of these soon." I replied.

"I don't mean like that..." Squigly muttered.

"Hm?"

"I meant... Just the two of us..." She finished.

I may have looked pretty stoic at that moment. But in all reality, my heart was doing back-flips, possibly juggling some chainsaws at the same time for good measure.

"W-Well... I..."

Yeah. Conversation. Not my forte.

Squigly shook her head, avoiding eye contact with me.

"I-I'm sorry about that... Please just forget what I said..." She apologized.

"W-Well... I'd be alright with that..." I replied slowly. The conversation was quickly descending into a level of awkwardness that I didn't know existed.

"...That's nice to know..." Squigly replied. I could have sworn that she's moved closer to me in the time that we've been dancing. I was honestly surprised that we hadn't drawn any attention from the other patrons.

"I should really leave... I've long overstayed my visit." I said.

"...I understand." Squigly replied. I gently let go of her hands, removing my other from her back. She looked disappointed, to say the very least.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay for longer, Squigly." I apologized. Despite the dance being over, Squigly still remained at the same distance from me.

"It's perfectly alright. I had a lovely time." She replied. For someone I met nearly an hour ago, our farewell seemed rather dramatic.

"I did too. You certainly brightened my evening up." I said. Squigly leaned forward ever-so-slightly, bringing our faces closer together. My brain was having a field-day trying to figure out what my next course of action should be.

"It was... Very nice meeting you." Squigly said, edging a little closer. My mouth had turned to sand.

"Hopefully... We'll be able to do this again soon..." She continued. Her face was now a hair's breadth away from mine. All it would take was one small movement...

"S-Squigly..." I finally muttered out. She closed her eyes at my words, leaving me completely dumbfounded. Surely she didn't want me to...?

Squigly's face came a little closer to mine. A gentle breeze would be enough to push us together at this point. Instinctively, I closed my eyes, still unaware on what I should actually be doing.

"Y-You can... I-If you want, that is..." Squigly said. She had effectively just told me that she's willing to venture past the point of no return. I nodded slightly, which was kind of useless, considering she had her eyes closed.

I took a short breath, one that made Squigly smile when she heard it. Slowly but surely, I started to tilt my head forward.

A few seconds passed before I felt her upper lip brush against mine. A feeling of euphoria washed over me as I continued the deed.

My experience was far too short-lived.

The large double doors of the hall crashed open, the sound of the wood splintering echoing through the room.

I brought my head back almost instantly, with Squigly nearly tumbling forward.

Every patron in the room turned their heads to see what had just happened.

The room fell deathly silent as a lone figure strode casually through the doors. The image was of a middle-aged woman, dressed in an elaborate dress that ran down her legs and a large snowflake-like cape that ran behind her. The focus, however, was not on the woman's fashion sense. All eyes were drawn to the complexion.

Or rather, the lack of one.

A large, black plate of some unknown metal covered the entirety of her face. Two eye-holes shone with an empty light at either sides of the mask.

No hand sat at the end of her right arm. But rather, a weapon. A rather large, rather intimidating-looking weapon. The woman gave off an aura of intimidation and uneasiness.

Behind the woman stood several younger men, all dressed in grey suits. The atmosphere around the small group was incredibly tense, and it didn't take a genius to guess that something terrible was about to happen.

"Who are these people?" I heard someone mutter. I was wondering the same question myself.

The mysterious woman took long steps into the hall, with the gang of identical men following closely behind.

It had only just been brought to my attention that Squigly was hiding behind me, clutching my hand like some lost child. I was confused. But the confusion was quickly being replaced by fear with every passing second.

The woman eventually stood right in the middle of the room. From this position, she started darting her head around randomly. It was almost as if she was scanning the room for something.

Then her eyes fell on me.

She took longer with me. Although, it almost seemed as if she wasn't interested in me, but rather, she was trying to see behind me. After staring for a few more seconds, the woman raised her arm.

And pointed her weapon straight at me.

Everything past this point went far too quickly.

My eyes widened as a short burst of her weapon echoed through the hall. I instinctively moved my body to the right, feeling a slight tinge of pain as the bullet lightly grazed my right ear.

Almost instantly, someone started screaming. It was almost as if a chain reaction had just occurred. It wasn't long before panic quickly became the main theme of the party. People darted around randomly, with some simply dropping to their knees and placing their hands over their heads.

The last ounce of my confusion quickly disappeared as I came to terms with the fact that I could have been dead less than a few seconds ago.

I barely had enough time to react before another bullet rung from the mysterious woman's weapon, immediately embedding itself into the nearby wall. I could hear Squigly whimpering behind me.

"W-Who are these people!?" I yelled, quickly breaking into a run for cover with Squigly in tow.

"I don't know!" She quickly replied, fear evident in her voice.

"Why are they trying to kill me!?" I yelled once more. A few more bullets flew through the air close to my head. The men that arrived with the woman had started to attack the other patrons of the party.

"I-I don't think it's you they're trying to kill!" Squigly shouted back.

"So they're aiming for you!?"

"I don't know! Just keep running!" She shouted. I wasn't exactly going to stop anytime soon.

I had far too many questions to ask, but I decided to keep them to myself for now. I quickly dashed for the exit to the hall, relying on pure luck to avoid getting myself shot.

The woman had now broken into a sprint, instantly catching wind of my intentions to leave. She was faster than me, and it was rather obvious that I wouldn't be able to outrun her anytime soon.

I managed to sprint my way to the destroyed double doors before she could catch up to me. I quickly shifted my weight around, grabbing one of the doors and pushing it as hard as I could with my free hand.

My timing was perfect. The door swung straight into my would-be assassin, knocking her straight to the floor. I took advantage of the time I was given and grabbed the handle of the door when it swung back, releasing Squigly while I used my other hand to close both doors simultaneously.

Thankfully, the lock on the doors still worked. With dexterity I wasn't aware that I even had, I quickly bolted every lock available on the door. I forcefully grabbed Squigly's hand afterwards and started another run to the exit. Thankfully, the layout of our venue wasn't too complicated, and only consisted of two large rooms suitable for a party of this caliber. Meaning that the exit was right in front of me.

The doors I had just locked buckled with incredible force. The woman had already gotten back on her feet, and had started to ram the doors repeatedly. With the amount of strength the doors were buckling with, coupled with the previous damage they had sustained, I could estimate that it wouldn't be too long before she broke them down.

I approached the exit quickly. I reached for the large doorknob and twisted firmly before pushing the door forcefully.

It didn't work.

I did the same process, but tried pulling the door instead.

Still nothing.

"They've locked it..." I muttered, my eyes widening. This was the only exit that this building had, meaning that this was the only escape route possible. My relief at being able to escape was immediately replaced with fear for my life.

"We're trapped..." Squigly spoke, fear in her voice.

Unlike our attacker, there wasn't a chance of me even coming close to forcing the door open. I'd probably end up breaking something.

"What do we do?" Squigly asked.

"...There's nothing we can do." I replied. The truth hurts sometimes.

Squigly didn't reply. She just hung her head in defeat.

I let loose a chuckle. The situation was quite laughable, really. It's one of those 'so close and yet so far' moments. The kind you see in tragedies.

The double doors at the other end of the room were close to bursting open. And when they did, I wouldn't have much time to react before I had a bullet lodged into my head.

"So they're here for you, then?" I asked.

"T-That woman... She's the right hand of Lorenzo... The head of the Medici family..." Squigly replied.

The Medici family were quite an upstanding mafia organization in the Canopy Kingdom. And, to my knowledge, clients of the Continello family.

That begs the question as to why they would want the Continellos gone. It would only harm business, after all.

"...We've got no chance of taking her on." I said. "It's the end of the line for us..."

I've heard of people with a phobia of death. But it's not that bad, really. You just seem to accept it when it arrives. It's a rather calm experience. I chuckled again.

"And we didn't even get to finish our business..." I joked. Despite our situation, I still managed to get a blush out of Squigly.

"Y-You were... Very gentle..." She whispered.

"We're about to die, and you're telling me that I'm a good kisser. Way to prioritize." I replied. Squigly shone another smile at me. I could only pray that this wasn't the last I'd see of it.

"I-I haven't even... Learned your name..." Squigly said.

"...No... You haven't..." I replied, forcing a smile.

It would only be about a minute before our attacker burst through the doors. I was still racking my brain for ideas to escape, but none came to mind.

We were outsmarted and outnumbered. It would take a miracle for us to get out of here. One that I wasn't betting on happening.

"Never expected to die this way..." I muttered to myself.

"I-I'm sorry! If I hadn't kept you, then you wouldn't be-"

"No need to apologize, Squigly. I'm sure the last moments of my life wouldn't have been nearly as interesting as this." I cut in. I suppose dying from some form of disease wouldn't be as action-packed as this. And to top it off, I managed to finish life with an unofficial girlfriend.

That sounded better in my head.

"Oh yeah. Can I ask you one last question?" I asked.

"Anything." Squigly replied hastily.

"...Why me?" I asked. The question had been gnawing at my mind since we ended the dance. Squigly took some time to answer. The time that we had left, anyway.

"Every man who had been interested in me took into account that I came from a wealthy family, so they felt that they had to treat me like a queen..."

The doors rattled.

"They gave me extravagant gifts and were always polite and caring towards me... I felt like I was restricting them..."

The locks began to falter.

"But when I met you... Even when I told you who I was... You still acted normally around me. You didn't act overly polite or compassionate... Unlike all the others, you treated me as an equal. Not as somebody who had power... That's why..."

The doors burst open.

"That's why I like you!" She finished.

Before I knew it, Squigly had thrown herself forward, wrapping her arms around me and planting a firm kiss straight on my lips.

It was an odd scene. An attacker stood at a destroyed set of doors, watching her target practically assaulting another patron with a long and drawn-out kiss.

It was a work of art painted by Satan himself.

I'm not exactly sure how long the kiss lasted, but I had to take a few breaths afterwards.

The last sign of affection given to me was a kiss from a young girl that I barely knew. What an odd way for my life to end. I felt my heart tighten when I saw a tear fall from Squigly's eye. I wanted to console her, to tell her that everything would be alright. But my body refused to move. I was paralyzed by a mixture of astonishment and fear.

Squigly opened her mouth to speak, but her harmonious voice fell on deaf ears. Just before she could get any words out, I felt a sharp pain erupt from my back. I grunted in pain before falling straight to my knees. I could see Squigly place her hands over her mouth in horror as I felt another oppressive force crash against my spine. I fell to my stomach with a grunt.

"Pitiful..." I heard a voice say from behind. The attacker slowly started to move towards Squigly, who simply stood, screwed to the spot. The woman wasted no time in forcefully grabbing Squigly's hair, immediately slamming her against the nearest wall. The moans of pain that Squigly made shot pangs of guilt through my heart. The force from the kick had almost completely shattered the large majority of my spine. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to move from my face-down position.

The attacker quickly pushed Squigly to her knees, watching calmly as tears streamed down from her face. Her right arm was brought up, the massive weapon attached to it pointing directly at Squigly's head.

Squigly drew her eyes away from the attacker and moved them towards my crumpled form laying on the ground. With tears running down her features, the corners of Squigly's mouth turned upwards into the final smile I ever saw from her.

Her smile said everything; Goodbye, thank you, and...

I love you.

I clenched my eyes shut.

The echo from the gunshot filled the entire room, shaking me to the core. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of a body dropping to the floor, devoid of life. I opened my eyes to see what I dreaded: Squigly's lifeless body was crumpled to the floor, a shallow pool of red collecting at her head. I felt my heart shatter into a thousand pieces as I took a few seconds to examine the horrific scene before me.

She was dead. I had only known her for an hour and a half, but she had already become the closest person to me in the world. And now she was dead.

I had so many other friends. So many other people that had known me for so long. So why did I care for the death of somebody I had only knew for such a short time? The answer was simple, really.

It was because I had loved her.

Love at first sight wasn't just some myth that people disregarded. At least I could die knowing that.

The assailant of Squigly started to walk towards me, filling my heart with a sense of dread now that I knew it was my turn to die.

The woman made her way to my side, crouching down slightly to examine my broken form.

This was it. The moment where I died. Even if someone came by to rescue me, I still wouldn't be able to live with Squigly's death replaying in my mind for the rest of my life.

Fate could truly be a cruel mistress...

The attacker raised her weapon, lining it up with my head in the same way that she did for Squigly.

And fired.


	2. Chapter 2

Love was something that a lot of people couldn't explain. Obviously, not everyone had experienced the feeling before, sometimes to such an extent that oral clarification from a close friend or a relative was necessary in order to convince someone that they were in love. Some had the displeasure of unrequited love, where the opposing party simply didn't express an interest in that person, or perhaps he/she simply lacked the confidence to pursue that love in the first place.

But, above all else, it was almost impossible how quickly love could develop. One could have a childhood friend for the better part of their life, yet might not develop feelings for that person until later on. Whereas in another scenario, someone could fall in love when meeting someone for the first time, bewitched perhaps by their looks or personality, and could then decide that they wished to pursue a relationship with that person.

I've never been one for love. It always amazed me how enamoured some people could become with whoever they happened to be interested in. Having such a fanatical devotion to someone baffled me to no end. I'd seen relationships rise and crumble many times, but at no point did I ever better understand the inner workings of love, nor did I develop a desire to pursue a relationship of my own.

Perhaps it was all down to the setting, then. Parties were something I detested beyond words, and I'd constantly spend my time at them searching for something more interesting to waste my time on. Maybe it was that I simply wanted to find something that held more meaning, so that I didn't have to strut around in an uncomfortable suit for an hour, talking to people who had far too much money to care what I had to say to them.

Was that why I found myself so enamoured with her? Because everything around me was simply a waste of my time? Such a waste that I didn't have anything better to do than unintentionally start this odd thing called love? But that didn't make sense in my head. It was something more that attracted me to her. Was it her looks? Was it her personality, or her mannerisms? Was it that she acted so casual around me, despite coming from such a prestigious family?

I'm fairly certain that it was none of those things. What attracted me to her was the unexplainable pull that could only be described as love. Even when experienced first-hand, it was still something that I couldn't explain, despite my best efforts. All I knew was that I felt it, and I was almost sure that she felt it as well. It was, by far, the best party I had ever had the displeasure of attending.

If only it had lasted for a little longer.

It seems that some things aren't meant to be. Things that, no matter how much we kick and scream, are simply unavoidable. I only wished that such a tragedy could've fallen upon someone else's shoulders, so that those feelings of love that I had felt could have continued without interruption. Perhaps I could've stopped it myself, if I was a more capable person. If I had made the right decisions, then maybe such a foul thing wouldn't have happened in the first place.

A droplet of rain hit my nose, and I gasped softly, rousing myself from my thoughts. My eyes widened as I slowly remembered why I was standing outside in the pouring rain. I remembered why I was still dressed up in an expensive black suit when I wasn't even attending any parties. I remembered what was causing that horrific thumping in the back of my head.

Sound returned, and I found myself hearing something over the pitter-patter of the rain against the ground. Someone's voice. A man's voice. Someone who spoke solemnly, and deliberately, as if to amplify his words so that they would hold more meaning. He sang on about some God that I didn't know about, in some heaven that I didn't care about, and some soul that I couldn't stop thinking about.

I looked around, to the people standing next to me. I didn't know any of them, and they certainly didn't know me. They imagined that I was just some faceless fool that had decided to turn up out of pity, although they didn't know that I was probably one of the most important people here.

No family members were here. That sounded like a terrible thing when you applied context to it, but there was a very valid reason as to why no family members had gathered here. One very important fact that outright denied them the right to attend such an occasion:

All of them, every single one of them, were gone.

Missing. Dispatched.

Assassinated.

Headlines erupted. News stations completely exploded. Every journalist in the country was wailing and clawing for a chance at the big scoop. How a formal party hosted by some of the most prestigious individuals in the world had so quickly devolved into a panic-wrought bloodbath. How every single member of the Continello family had been brutally murdered, all by the exploits of one, metal-clad woman with a mission.

A formal party. One-hundred attendants.

Ninety-nine confirmed fatalities.

_One survivor._

I recoiled and grunted as the back of my head began to throb painfully.

A miracle operation, they called it. A one-in-one-thousand shot, like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. The best of the best were pulled from their positions from all over the world, just to make sure that one person walked out of the hospital alive. Yet, it wasn't all perfect. They said it would have been too dangerous to remove everything. They said that I'd just have to deal with the occasional throbbing pains as my brain violently rejected two inches of shrapnel dug deep into my head.

The throbbing subsided, and I shrunk away as the uninterested gazes of the people around me focused intently on my person, their expressions morphing into ones of pure horror as realisation slowly kicked in, and they finally knew who the 'faceless nobody' really was:

The survivor. The patient. The one who tried to save her, but failed miserably, only to get a brain-full of lead as a reward.

All of a sudden, people started noticing me. I started receiving handshakes and words of praise from famous tycoons and nationwide celebrities. I was commended for my bravery, and my initiative, usually followed by the calm hope that my injury was healing well. I smiled and nodded, knowing that there was little else I could do in this situation. All I was here for was to pay my respects.

The preaching man; no, the Pastor, finished his short speech and took his leave from the cold field of jagged memorials, leaving only me and a handful of the other patrons. We all took a few steps forward, moving towards the massive stone slab that was the reason we arrived here in the first place. We took turns, saying the things that we never got to say, and remembering the good times while they lasted.

Eventually, it was my turn, and I found myself directly in front of the stone coffin. I simply stared for a few seconds as a few painful memories ran through my head all at once, and the pain in the back of my head started throbbing again.

_"I love you."_

That was what she was trying to tell me. Before she was gone. Before the gunshot. It was what I wanted to say, too, but never got enough time. Not before I got the same treatment. That was what I felt towards her. That strange force called love.

I placed my hand on the granite lid.

"I'm sorry, Squigly..." I said, quiet enough so none of the other patrons could hear me. "...I love you."


End file.
